A "Tuesday" State of Mind
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So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. - Romans 8:6
For some people, it’s Monday, but not me; it’s Tuesday. It’s been that way for as long as I can remember, as far back as high school. It’s the “Tuesday” state of mind.
For whatever reason, Tuesdays are not good days for me. It's the day when I wake up with a lot of negative thoughts. Nothing is good; nothing is right. At least that’s the way it feels. You would think it would be Monday, but not me. I am an optimist. Sundays are good. Monday is full of possibilities for the week ahead and all that can be done and all the good will happen. Tuesday is the day when it seems like “it’s just another week.” I begin to doubt that all the good things that I imagined would happen on Monday are not going to happen beginning on Tuesday.
Bad things seem to happen on Tuesdays. Things begin to fall apart on Tuesdays. Bad news comes on Tuesdays or late on Mondays. Tuesdays are tough.
At least that’s what I thought. I had a “Tuesday” state of mind.
It was more than just a thought; it was a mindset. My mind was set on what was negative, what would or might go wrong, all the little things that weren’t going right, all the dreams that hadn’t come true – all my shortcomings, weaknesses, failures, and missed opportunities.
Some days it would show up on other days, other unexpected days, at unexpected times. There it was – the “Tuesday” state of mind.
Studies have shown that on average, about 70% of our thoughts are negative. Our minds typically focus on problems, stressors, anxious thoughts, and other negative things. It’s hard to break out of a negative mindset. It’s “natural.” It comes out of our sinful nature. We tend to doubt God and His goodness. We “see” the world and all that’s wrong. If we’re not careful, it becomes a mindset – a mind set on the wrong things.
We also have an enemy who speaks lies into our minds. That is what he is – a liar. Lies are his language.
There are three lies he uses over and over to speak in our lives.
I’M BROKEN – I'M WORTHLESS – I'M UNLOVABLE.
So many of the negative things we think come from these three lies, and they are lies. Add them to what we are already thinking, and we sink even further down.
Paul wrote in Romans 8:6 - So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.
The Spirit comes into our lives to help us live for Christ and that includes helping us think – to think in a healthy way. He comes to lead our minds into LIFE & PEACE. Life and peace! Doesn’t that sound good? A mind at peace no matter what is going on around us. We can have a mind of peace. We don’t have to live stuck in a destructive mindset. He has something better for us.
Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 10:5 - We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
In other words, we have a choice in how we think and what we believe.
We can take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ. We don’t have to let it run rampant in our minds and let it wreak havoc. We don’t have to live there.
It might look something like this when you find your mind stuck in a toxic mindset.
Taking Every Thought Captive: “I have a choice”
- Catch it.
- Test it.
- Replace it.
- Act on it. (the Truth)
In other words, when you find yourself stuck in a destructive mindset, you “catch” the thought. You take notice of what you are thinking. You think about what you are thinking.
Then you take that thought and hold it up to test it. What would the Spirit say about such a thought? What is the truth about that thought? Once you know the truth from Scripture, you consciously replace the wrong thought with a new one. Then you act on the truth and live that out. You leave the wrong thinking behind and replace it with the new.
Here’s an example – the lie: “I’m Worthless” That’s not true. That is wrong thinking. You were created by God. You are loved by God. Jesus died for you. You are not worthless; we are unworthy, but we are not “worthless”, not by a long shot. Even though we are unworthy, we have worth because He gives us worth. Now we live in that.
It's not easy changing a mindset that has been built over a lifetime. It’s not easy, but it’s not impossible. The Spirit is inside us to do this very type of thing. He brings the power we need to change. We partner with Him, but it’s not all up to us. We partner with Him. He makes the impossible possible.
Our job is to take every thought captive. His job is bringing the power to bring change.
It doesn’t have to be a “Tuesday.”